1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an electrical coupler for detachable interconnection between two electrical units, one being a main unit and the other being an external unit which is additional and detachable to the main unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of computer devices, particularly hand-held computers, the computers are usually accompanied with an optional device such as a CD-ROM unit or the like external unit which is to be coupled and decoupled to and from to a main unit of the computer, as required by an user. To meet this requirement, the main unit of the computer is provided with a terminal connector for detachable connection to the external unit. The terminal connector is internally connected to a circuit board incorporated in the main unit for connection with a corresponding control circuit that the computer inherently includes. In order to deal with varying locations of the terminal connector which are determined by other design requirements for different models of the computers, and therefore to deal with varying heights between the terminal connector of varying locations and the circuit board fixed in place at the bottom of the main unit, one solution is found to adopt a flexible coupler which is known to have a pair of terminal connectors at opposite ends of a flexible tape and to interconnect two circuit boards by pressing the terminal connectors into corresponding sockets of separate electrical systems. That is, one of the terminal connectors is used for connection with the external unit while the other terminal connector is to be connected internally with the main unit. Because of that the terminal connector is subject to pulling and pushing forces exerted at the time of connecting and disconnecting the external unit to and from the terminal connector, the flexible coupler should be rigidly supported to an enclosure or the like supporting structure of the main unit. Therefore, it is necessary to use an additional mounting bracket or the like to fix the terminal connector of the flexible coupler to the enclosure of the main unit. However, this involves the use of the separate parts and therefore complicates the assembly of the terminal connector, i.e., the flexible connector into the main unit of the computer.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above problem to provide an electrical coupler which is capable of being easily assembled into an intended main unit for electrical detachable interconnection of an external unit to the main unit. The electrical coupler in accordance with the present invention is adapted in use for detachable interconnection of two separate electric units, one being a main unit having an enclosure which mounts therein a main circuit board with an array of first contacts and the other being an external unit having an array of second contacts. The coupler includes a dielectric carrier which carries a plurality of conductors having at opposite ends thereof an array of first terminal ends and an array of second terminal ends which are engageable with the arrays of the first and second contacts, respectively for establishing an electrical interconnection therebetween. The carrier includes a header of a rigid material which integrally supports the array of the second terminal ends to define thereat a terminal connector for detachable connection to the external unit. The important features of the present invention reside in that the header is molded to have a mount flange as an integral part thereof which is adapted in user to securely fix the header to the enclosure or the main circuit board of said main unit, and that a height adjusting mechanism is provided to vary a vertical position of the header relative to the main circuit board for adjusting a height of the terminal connector from the main circuit board. With this arrangement, the electrical coupler of the present invention can be successfully assembled into the main unit in such a manner as to locate the terminal connector at a position of varying height from the main circuit board of the main unit for connection with the external unit, yet assuring to easily fix the terminal connector at that position to the wall of the enclosure or the main circuit board so that the coupler is capable of bearing the pulling and pushing force exerted at the time of connecting and disconnecting a corresponding socket or plug of the external unit to and from the terminal connector.
In a preferred embodiment, the carrier is defined totally by the header which also integrally supports the array of the first terminal ends. Each of the conductors is made from a hard continuous material into a generally L-shaped configuration to have the first and second terminal ends defined on opposite ends of the conductor. The first terminal ends are arranged within a first plane intersecting the header and the second terminal ends are arranged within a second plane which intersects the header in an angled relation, preferably at a right angle, to the first plane. The header is formed with a recess adapted in use to receive therein a first socket mounted on the main circuit board and provided with the array of the first contacts. The recess has a bottom through which the array of the first terminal ends projects for connection with the array of the first contacts. The recess is configured in order to enable the first socket to be slidable within the recess along a depth of the recess. The first terminal ends are configured to have sufficient length for keeping the first terminal ends engaged with the first contacts over a prolonged distance within which the first socket is kept engaged with the recess. Thus, the recess is cooperative with the first terminal ends to define the height adjusting mechanism.
Preferably, the first and second terminal ends are supported on a single hard dielectric core of a generally L-shaped configuration which extends through the header to have its opposite ends projecting from first and second end faces of the header and to have the first and second terminal ends supported on the opposite ends of the core. The coupler of this configuration can be used in combination with a first socket which is adapted to be mounted on the main circuit board. The first socket has a slot which is in registration with a corresponding hole in the main circuit board, allowing the first terminal ends to extend therethrough and through the main circuit board with the first terminal ends being kept in sliding engagement with the first contacts. This slot in the first socket is cooperative with the first terminal ends of sufficient length to define the height adjusting mechanism which keeps the first terminal ends engaged with the first contacts while the header is displaced in the direction of varying the height of the terminal connector from the main circuit board.
Also disclosed in the present invention is a coupler which can be used in combination with a spacer adapted to rest on the main circuit board. The spacer has a mating structure which comes into registration with a portion of the header from which the first terminal ends extend, and has a vertical slot which allows first terminal ends to extend therethrough. The spacer is cooperative with the first terminal ends of sufficient length to define the height adjusting mechanism. The first terminal ends are arranged to give a dual-in-line terminal array which is adapted to extend through corresponding through-holes in the main circuit board for direct bonding thereto.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the header, which integrally supports the arrays of the first and second terminal ends, are designed to have two available orientations for interconnection of the main unit and the external unit. That is, the arrays of the first and second terminal ends are of identical arrangement for selectively engageable with the arrays of the first and second contacts with the header being disposed at either of the two orientations. The first and second end faces, from which the first and second terminal ends project respectively, are configured to be capable of effecting a mating contact with a first socket provided with the array of the first contacts. The first end face is cooperative with the second plane in which the second terminal ends are arranged in the array, to define therebetween a first height. The second end face is cooperative with the first plane, in which the array of the first terminal ends are arranged, to define therebetween a second height. The first and second heights are set to be different from each other so that the height adjustment of the terminal connector can be made by selecting one of the first and second end faces for mating on the first socket, i.e., by selectively disposing the header in either of the two orientations given to the header.
In a still further embodiment of the present invention, the carrier includes, in addition to the header, an auxiliary header of a hard material integrally supporting the array of the first terminal ends, and a flexible tape extending from the header to the auxiliary header. The conductors extend from the second terminal ends through the header and the flexible tape to terminate at the first terminal ends of the additional header. In this case, the flexible tape defines the height adjusting mechanism for the terminal connector with respect to the main circuit board.
Furthermore, the carrier may be configured to have, in addition to the header, a flexible tape extending from the header and being formed at its free end with the array of the first terminal ends.
These and still other objects and advantageous features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.